DOVER — Everyone knew it would happen, it was just a matter of when on Tuesday as Crawfordsville senior and state leader in kills Macy Bruton accomplished the feat of reaching the illustrious 2,000 career kill mark as the Athenians battled Western Boone. The Stars came away with three set sweep (25-16, 25-15, 25-21) over the Athenians, but Bruton’s night was still something very worth celebrating. Over the weekend at the Clinton Central Invite, she tallied the 1,000th dig of her career as she has gotten it done on both ends of the court over the course of her historic CHS career.
“Phenomenal is all I can really say,” longtime Crawfordsville coach Kelly Johnson said of Bruton’s achievement. “Those numbers don’t come without a ton of hard on her part. She plays the sport year-round and we as a program couldn’t be more proud of her.”
Bruton ended the night with 14 kills and 15 digs in the loss. Elyse Widmer added in three aces and six digs. Samantha Rohr ended her night with two kills and two digs, while Halle Elliot evened Bruton’s total in the dig department with 15 of her own. Jessica Tribble notched 21 assists and seven digs while Hallie Gayler and Devan Johnson both ended with three kills.
Over the course of the three sets, the host Stars (19-6, 5-0 SAC) controlled the game with great serving and keeping the ball away from Bruton as much as they could. After going down 2-0, The Athenians weren’t going to go down without a fight and that’s exactly what happened in the third and final set. CHS had the score within a single point trailing 17-18 and didn’t go away as the score still read 23-21 WeBo late.
“WeBo has a ton of guns and girls that you have to worry about,” Johnson said. “I was proud of the way that our girls responded after the way we started the game. We could’ve folded completely after that but they came back out and finally were able to find a groove about mid-way through the second set and then we obviously played them well in the third.”
It was senior night for the Stars who honored their seven seniors in Elena Gubera, Chloe Gillan, Kendal Ramey, Katherine Aliff, Kennedy Kiger, Saige Terwiske, and Audrey Dunn before the contest with CHS.
“I knew that our girls would play well because they’re so mentally tough,” Stars coach Laura Bragg said. “Tonight was a great celebration for our those girls and the work they’ve put in over the last four years, but more than that they wanted to win a conference match and play really well.”
The Stars are a potential sectional opponent for the Athenians as the Class 3A Sectional 25 will be hosted by the Western Boone. Johnson notes how as they do after every loss, they’ll use this experience to get better as they prepare for their final four games of the season.
“It’s all about getting through these last few games,” she said. “Thursday (home vs Danville) is a big one for us and the most important thing right now. We’ll find out who we play in the tournament on Sunday and then prepare from there.
The Athenians fall to 19-7 (2-3 SAC) with the loss. Before the game against the Warriors on Thursday, there is expected to be a recognition for Bruton for her 2,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
